Tennessee School Bus Driver Was Texting Before Deadly Crash, Police Say

School Bus Driver Was Texting Before Deadly Crash

June 5 (Reuters) - The driver of a Tennessee school bus that crashed in December, killing two students and a teacher's aide, had been receiving and sending texts before the crash, police said on Friday.

The driver, James Davenport, who was among the more than two dozen people injured in the crash, died as the investigation was nearing a conclusion, Knoxville police said in a statement.

Davenport died on Monday, local media said, quoting the Knox County Sheriff's Office.

The investigation determined that Davenport "was driving while distracted due to sending and receiving text messages," Knoxville police said. "Multiple text messages had been sent and received during the time leading up to the crash."

Police have turned the findings over to the Knox County District Attorney General's Office, they said.

In the crash, one school bus crossed a concrete median on a Tennessee highway and crashed into another school bus traveling in the opposite direction. (Reporting by David Bailey in Minneapolis; Editing by Sandra Maler)

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